Daily Fantasy NASCAR: Drivers to target this weekend at Pocono
— -- Last week in this space, I picked Kevin Harvick as the Sprint Cup driver starting my team for the Brickyard 400. Although Harvick didn't win the race, he did lead a race-high 75 laps and his 79.75 DraftKings points were the second-highest behind race winner Kyle Busch's 83.5.
In the Saturday column, I chose Jimmie Johnson as my other top-salary option, and he put up an OK 24.25 points thanks to a 15th-place finish after his pit strategy didn't come through.
I did lead my midtier steals with Ryan Newman thanks to his last-place starting spot. He only finished 11th, but thanks to the start/finish differential, he had the third-highest points total on the week. Hopefully you chose Chase Elliott as your lowest-cost option to round out your team. He gave you 36.75 points on just $8,300 salary.
Now, we're heading back to Pocono, where the Sprint Cup Series raced less than two months ago. With the short turnaround between Cup races there, plus a race last week at another flat, high-speed track in Indianapolis, we have a lot of material to work with.
One key difference between this week and last? There's a lack of attractive, low-cost options such as Elliott or Ryan Blaney. They're not in this race, as the better part-time teams sit this one out.
Here's a starter course for this Sunday's race, but check back over the weekend after practices have been run and the starting lineup is set.
I'm starting my team with ...
Why reinvent the wheel? I'm going with Harvick, absorbing the hit of his high price tag, and putting my lineup together around the No. 4 car. He nearly hit 80 points last week at Indy and had 84.5 at Pocono earlier this season. That was the second-highest total in that race, behind Martin Truex Jr., and no other driver put up more than 58.25 points in that race.
It's been a season of dominance for Harvick in terms of fantasy points. He's put up 1,659.75 points in 20 races so far, 600 more than any other driver. Only once this season has Harvick failed to put up fewer than 50 fantasy points.
Harvick has finished second in back-to-back Pocono races, but his potential for laps led and fastest laps run makes him the most intriguing fantasy play in my eye.
Keep your eye on these four:
Dale Earnhardt Jr. : Rejoice, Junior Nation! I'm on your side this week. Earnhardt swept both Pocono races in 2014 and finished 11th after starting 20th here earlier this season -- a performance worth 50 fantasy points. In 2012, Junior had a pair of top-5 finishes at Pocono. Over the last three seasons, Earnhardt has averaged 59.7 DraftKings points a race at Pocono, 10 points more per race than any other driver at the Tricky Triangle.
Joey Logano : Logano is on a run of four straight top-five finishes at Pocono and Indianapolis, and with Penske power under his hood, I like him as a play on these tracks. But this was also the site of one of Logano's two wins in his time with Joe Gibbs Racing -- and the only one that didn't come via early stoppage due to rain. Logano led 30 laps in this race last year and finished with the fifth-highest point total in the field.
Kyle Larson : Larson and I have had our ups and downs when it comes to me picking him in fantasy, but let's put hurt feelings aside and be impressed with his runs at Pocono and Indy. He was ninth last week at Indianapolis and has never finished worse than 11th in three Pocono races, including an eighth-place run earlier this year. I likely wouldn't take Larson if he was starting high in the field because he has the worst start/finish differential this season, losing more than 180 spots from his starting position to his finishing position. But a start in the middle of the pack or worse will definitely catch my eye.
Clint Bowyer : Bowyer's value still hasn't caught up to his performance, which has been much improved over the last few weeks. Bowyer has averaged more than 35 points in his last eight races, with five top-10 finishes. Throw out a bad race at New Hampshire, and the average is more than 41 points per race. In the first dozen races this year, he had only a pair of top-10 finishes, nothing better than seventh. Bowyer put up 53.75 points in this race last year with a fourth-place finish.
